He swept his leg behind mine, bringing me down to the floor. His hand cradled the back of my head as the cold marble met my bare skin. His knees dug into my inner thighs as he forced them apart, settling between my legs, pinning my wrists above my head with one hand, his other hand came down on my throat.
I was panting trying to get a hold of my breath, and he might as well have just awoken from a nap. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. His chest rose calmly and evenly as if he had control of the situation the entire time.
“Charlotte.” His grip on my neck tightened. “You better answer me this time.” His tone dripped with warning. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He leaned in closer, his face inches from mine, his stomach pressing into my own, his warmth melding into me. I arched my back, pressing my body deeper into his, grinding my hips once along his hard length. He let out a heavy breath.
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“I think it was,” I breathed.
He grazed his nose along my jaw, inhaling deeply. “What do you want?” He murmured against my ear, eliciting a shudder that racked through me.
“I want you.” A whisper, barely audible. Hardly registered even within my own mind, hardly accepted either.
“Was that a question?” He could feel it too. The hesitance. “You need to be clear, Charlotte. Say what you mean. Don’t hold back,” he spoke roughly, his control slipping.
I took in a sharp breath. What did I want? It was only fitting that what I wanted would only drive me further from normalcy. And it sank in then, all that I had done already. The treason had piled up all around me. I surpassed execution long ago. The list of crimes I have committed would earn me more than ten executions. I knew he could feel me panicking as his thumb began to slowly caress my pulse point. He wasn’t using his ability to calm me, but he was able to without it.
“I want you,” I repeated more clearly.
And that was all he needed.
His lips crashed against mine. I parted them, letting him in. He released his grip from my throat, his hand tangling within my hair, tilting my head back so he could fully take what he wanted. I melted beneath him. Sparks erupted under my skin as my flesh heated. I grazed my inner thighs along his sides, running my hands desperately along his back, needing our skin to touch, needing to be closer. My nipples grazed against his chest. I gasped, raising my hips to his, needing the friction.
He kissed and nipped at my jaw, along my throat, my collarbone. He licked up the column of my throat; I felt the whisper of his fangs. A surge of hot lightning shot through me, the anticipation of broken flesh.
I clawed at the hem of my dress, needing it off. His hands came down over mine, trailing them up along my body and over my head. I was left in nothing but my slinky underwear. The drafty room washed over me, sending prickles over my bare skin. Sebastian sat back on his knees, looking down on me with an expression that should have sent me running. I had never seen his eyes don such ... turmoil. They were appraising, promising, threatening. And haunted. But above all, they were calculated. A predator zeroing in on what it captured, going in for the kill.
His darkened eyes roamed over every surface, lingering on my breasts, my stomach, the center of my legs still guarded by a thin fabric. He stopped there. His hands landed roughly on my hips, gripping the fabric and yanking them down. I gasped from the force. He tossed them aside. His hands came under my knees, lifting them slightly and guiding them outwards, baring me fully to him. He sat back again and looked at me, all of me, and now I should have definitely run.
I didn’t think his eyes could grow any darker.
But a part of me, hidden deep within the darkened shadows of my mind, wanted to remain in the hands of what I was supposed to fear. A sick curiosity wanted to see how the wolf bared its teeth. I wanted to see how he took down what he wanted most.
He bent down, his face hovering above my breasts, until he took one of my nipples into his mouth, massaging the other with his hand, pinching and twisting. I let out a moan, writhing beneath him. He bit down slightly, and I squealed at the sharp sting. He growled at the sound, digging his erection into my center. He still wore his black shorts. His warmth bled into me.
He kissed a trail down my stomach, stopping right before my clit. A sharp breath escaped me as he swiped a finger up my center.
“So wet for me, killer.” His eyes were glazed over with lust.
My head lolled back, and a deep moan spilled from my throat as he ran his tongue from my opening to my clit, where he swirled it around, sending a shudder racking through me. I arched my back as he plunged his tongue into me. One hand came down heavily on my inner thigh, pushing it down into the cold marble, spreading me open. The other firmly squeezed my breast, nearly to the point of bruising. The slight pain mixing with the enrapturing pleasure. I squirmed and writhed, entangling my fingers within his hair, grabbing it just for something to hold on to.
His tongue continued to glide and swirl over my clit with expert precision. He removed his hand from my breast and slid a finger inside me. He slid it in and out, massaging languidly, hitting that sensitive spot that made me cry out.
“Yes, Sebastian,” I breathed.
He growled at the sound of his name, lapping me up in a feral haste. The pressure built within me, a weight atop fragile glass, thin fractures like lightning webbing across the surface. His lips clamped down around my clit, and as he started sucking, I shattered, crying out his name. He continued pumping into me and lapping at me, wringing out every last bit of pleasure.
“Bite me.” The words came out before any thought could take hold.
He didn’t even hesitate. Immediately his mouth moved to the top of my inner thigh, and his teeth sank into me. I nearly blacked out from the sensation. Just as my orgasm faded, my body ignited once more. Another wave crashed into me, taking me under. I floated deep within the blackened waters, content to drift further. The need to take a breath evaded me, lost in the weightlessness. My body melted into cold stone.
The sudden absence of his warmth was enough to jolt me back to earth. I tried to sit up, though I was slow to ascend. My vision blurred. My head felt murky. Once I managed to rise, my fuzzy eyes settled and then focused on Sebastian, who was panting and pressed up against one of the bookshelves as if he couldn’t put enough distance between us. And his eyes. I’d never seen him look so terrified. I didn’t think he was capable of harboring such an emotion. We stared at each other for a long moment. Confusion waded through the hazy fog in my head.
“What—”
“You didn’t even know you were dying.” His voice wasdetached, haunted.
